Neopets, A New Way
by Mistress of Weird
Summary: When Lara enters Neopia, she doesn't count on falling in love... especially with someone so unlikely as Spade. Can the two forbidden lovers survive the tests put to them by old enemies, jealous friends, and even some of Neopia's most infamous villains?
1. First Steps

[A/N] Alright, so I know I've got other stories to update and I really shouldn't be starting a new one (but I swear I'm still working on them. They aren't lying forgotten in my attic!), but when this idea hit me, I just couldn't resist. I really will update them in a jiffy though! And odd point, I wonder why I always write Neopets stories in first person... oh well, just another unsolved mystery of the universe!   
...:..Disclaimer: I do NOT own Neopets. Err, I mean I own some Neopets, but I don't own the site... That is, I have an account there... Oh, bugger. I'm confuzzled. Well, how's this: I don't own this stuff. Adam does. And Donna. And The Neopets Staff. But hey, NOT ME. Got it? Good. Now, on with the sho—story!  
  
"Hello, and welcome to Neopia! We have worked hard to make this a happy and exciting community, with as much fun as you can imagine! In Neopia, you can create your very own pet, feed and train it, teach it, and much, much MORE!" The tall (and extremely fanciable) blonde spoke excitedly, but his face revealed his boredom at repeating the same things over and over again. It was too bad he'd landed a job like that, really. He would have been sweet if years of redundancy hadn't washed away his personality. _Poor guy, and he's not half bad,_ I thought sympathetically, passing through the swinging doors at the entrance of the Neopia Registration Hall. Inside, the floor consisted of white and black patterned tiles, sickeningly reminiscent of those on a hospital. The walls were coated in at least one year's grime, and the ceiling was ornamented with hanging lamps, casting an eerie glow in the main room. Signs hung above various corridors that all tunneled away from the main room. As I glanced around, searching for the right one, a voice addressed me.  
  
"Girly, let me guess: you're here to sign up with Neopets, and you have no idea where to go." The redheaded receptionist smiled cynically, twirling a tuft of her frizzy hair. I sighed and nodded, deciding not to mention that the name "girly" was hardly suiting for me; I was seventeen. After all, she was here to help me. If I got an attitude with her, I could very well be turned out without a thought. "Well, before you go anywhere, you need to come over here and fill out some paperwork. See, there's rules we hafta make sure you follow." She smacked a wad of bubble gum while lazily putting together a stack of papers for me to deal with. "And here's a pen, and you can just scoot over there to fill it all out." She gestured with the pen in her hand to a large circular table over at the far end of the room. With a nod of thanks, I took the items and headed to the table, wanting to get this done with and be in Neopia as soon as possible.  
  
"Name... date of birth... sex... simple enough," I muttered to myself, scanning the forms. One question caught my eye. "Preferred appearance? What on Earth is that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Not on Earth, on Neopia," was the receptionist's idle remark. "And it means what do you want to look like while you take the part of a Neopian." At my blank stare, she sighed and continued, "You see, while in Neopia, you can't very well go around just looking as you are when your pets are cartoons. This method lets you pick what your Neopian cartoon appearance will be."  
  
"You mean, I'm going to be... a cartoon?"  
  
"What are you, deaf? Yeah, that's what I mean. Just fill it out, and any details you neglect to mention, they'll ad-lib with. Or just write 'as is' if you'd like to simply look like a cartoonized version of your current self. That's what most people go with." I scribbled down "as is" in the space provided, perfectly willing to keep my appearance. While I wasn't exactly a supermodel, with my average waist size, blunt features and slick black hair, I didn't consider myself at all ugly. In fact, I had been told often enough that I was pretty in a plain sort of way. My eyes, in particular, were deemed lovely, and they were compared to the color of rich milk chocolate. My dark skin was inherited from my Blackfoot heritage, a Native American tribe. I thought for a moment, then added to my answer, "but with cat ears." Hey, I could have a little fun, right? There was no way I'd be the only part-anthro there anyway.  
  
"So, what was Neopia's lure to you, kiddo?" For a second, I thought I had imagined the question until I looked up and saw the receptionist looking inquiringly at me. "Was it the pets? Of course, that's the whole point, but... well, I've encountered some different reasons to come here." When I hesitated, she added, "It's okay if you don't wanna tell me, I understand it could be personal."  
  
"It's okay," I replied, "I'll tell you. I came because it seemed like an adventure. Getting a pet unlike any on Earth, and spending as much time as I wanted in a completely different world, just to see that no time has passed on Earth, and I can go between the worlds freely. My friends have changed since they decided to sign up, so I thought I'd give it a try myself."  
  
"Pretty positive outlook on things. I prefer a pessimistic way of life."  
  
"Life is a adventure, and every new thing that happens is just a new chapter in the great book. "I took a deep breath, remembering when I had first heard those words. Though I had scoffed at them before, they now represented my beliefs and my life. "Don't think of things as bad, think of them as new challenges. A fresh chance to prove yourself."  
  
The receptionist laughed. "Quite the idealist, aren't you? If I was still young, like you, your words might mean something. I'm just too old for taking up new challenges, as it were. Why do you think I've got a job like this? Here, are you done with that?" She beckoned me over to the counter where I handed her the now completed forms. Fast as lightning, she transferred all the information I had given her to a database on the computer. "Alright, now go down that hall and they'll finish registering you." She pointed to corridor marked by a sign that read "Preparation Centre".  
  
"You know, I've been wondering, why is it so empty here? I thought a ton of people signed up every day." I cocked my head, waiting for her answer.  
  
"It's complicated. Each person sees the building separately from the moment they walk in. It's almost like a different building for everyone, but... I guess that's the best I can tell you. I don't fully understand it myself." She frowned, thinking about it. "Oh well, there's not much point in worrying about it. Go on, finish up." She gave me a gentle shove in the direction of the corridor she had previously pointed out. Pulling together my shot nerves, I strode down the hall. The walls in here were just as dirty as those in the main room, but underneath, they were tiled, just like the floor. I shrugged and continued walking down the twisting tunnel. After about thirty seconds, I reached the end of the hall, with a single door displaying the neon red word, "ENTER". I followed the directions and went in.  
  
The room was much more inviting than what I had seen of the building so far. Though it wasn't exactly large, it's walls were clean, but not extensively so. The floor bore a calm, creamy vanilla-colored carpet, while the light in the room came, not from hanging lamps, but a light fixture on the ceiling not unlike those in an apartment or house. A young woman with shoulder length platinum hair and soft green eyes glanced up upon my entry and smiled. "Hello there, I suppose you're here to finish registration?" When I nodded, she laughed and said, 'Silly of me to ask, I suppose. Why on Neopia would you be here otherwise?" I grinned nervously and took a seat as she gestured for me to sit down. The woman turned to her computer and began clicking madly before turning to me again. "It seems you have all your paperwork in order, so now we'll just deal with the rest." She pressed a button on her keyboard that I couldn't see, and immediately, to my total surprise, the wall slid open to reveal what appeared to be a huge chamber, covered with flashing lights and snaking cords and wires. "If you'll just step in there, you'll get a preview of what your Neopian form is like." Terrified, I stepped back. "Don't worry, it's not painful or scary." I looked from the sweet woman to the chamber before gulping and stepping into the huge device. My view blocked by the thick metal skeleton of the machine, I could only guess at what was going on outside.  
  
"Ahh!" Suddenly the chamber snapped into life, and a thick mist flowed around me. It seemed to seep into my very pores even while I inhaled it, finding it surprisingly breathable. Soon the swirling fog had completely enveloped me, then, just as suddenly, it quickly faded away. The doors of the dark chamber snapped open, and I found myself facing the blonde woman again.  
  
"Ah, I see it went perfectly. Come here, you can see yourself." She brought me to a full-length mirror on the opposite wall. I looked at the mirror, feeling the same as before but apparently looking much different. Staring back was my face, framed by my hair, on my neck and figure, even wearing the same camouflage tank top and dark denim jeans I had been wearing. But two things were different. For one, a pair of pointy dark gray ears with pink insides poked out of the top of my head, replacing the curvy skin- colored ones that had previously decorated the side of my head. And for another, detail was gone. My features were all simplified, now resembling an animé-style cartoon. In fact, I _was_ a cartoon.  
  
"What do you think?" the woman asked, interrupting my self- evaluation.  
  
"...I- I like it," I stammered, slightly frightened at seeing myself, a cartoon, standing next to a real—no, I was just as real as her—a_ regular_ person in the mirror. "So am I going to look like this for as long as I'm in Neopia?"  
  
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while. Besides, you wouldn't want to stand out too much—everyone else will be one." I grinned and studied myself again.  
  
"So, what's going to happen now?" While it was exciting enough to look at myself as a 'toon, I was still anxious to become an official Neopian.  
  
"Well, now we set up your account." She took a quick glance back at her computer monitor. "So then, your name is Lara, huh? And you want your account name to be Craftycunningkiller. Is that right?" I nodded quickly. "Well, it's not taken, so it's all yours. And let's see, we'll need to start you off with a pet as well. Do you have your choice, or would you like to see a list?"  
  
"I'd like to see a list please," I said, starting to feel a bit overwhelmed. Pressing yet another button on her keyboard, the blonde popped a projector out of the wall. She snapped it on, and a slide show displaying the pets in alphabetical order began running. "Oh, that one's very cute, can I get one of those?" I pointed at the screen, which displayed a draconic Neopet labeled "Draik".  
  
"I'm sorry, but those ones are restricted."  
  
"What's that mean?"  
  
"It means that you have to do something in order to get one; you can't just adopt it normally. I'm sorry," she added when she saw my look of disappointment, "that's just the way it is."  
  
"It's okay," I replied, glancing back up as she resumed flipping through the pets. "Y'know, maybe I oughtn't create a pet."  
  
"But everyone has a pet, at least one."  
  
"I didn't say I shouldn't get a pet, I just said I shouldn't create one. Didn't the brochure say there was a pound?"  
  
"Oh yes." The blonde looked somewhat distressed. "Are you sure you want to get one from there? There are plenty of beautiful pets you can choose from anyway."  
  
I stared at her, shocked that she couldn't understand. "The pound pets are desperate and lonely! They were mistreated and cast away! I'd be better off adopting one of them than creating four pets on my own." I shook my head. "Just why are you so adamant against me going there, anyway?"  
  
"It's a cruel place." Her voice was full of experience and pain as she spoke. "The cries and pleads of thousands of pets ring in your ears, all of them insisting that you must take them home. All around, naïve new owners find themselves helplessly surrounded by monsters, yes monsters. Pets that have been in the pound so long the very souls have been withered away into nothing. The most horrible people arriving every second to drop off a pet they grew tired of, someone who just wasn't good enough anymore. Wails and screams are what define the place, not happy little pets getting new owners every second. The pound is the worst place in Neopia. It's worse than a thousand Haunted Woods. It's a prison, a torture chamber, a nuthouse, and all the worst places rolled into one. Trust me, you don't want to go there." The woman's eyes shone with tears, hard memories clearly hurting her for what couldn't have been the first time. I was curious about what could have been so terrible and traumatizing for her to break down when speaking of the place, but at the same time, I was afraid. Besides, what business of mine was her past? I had no right to barge into her memories, prying out every painful detail.  
  
"Uhh, I guess I'll try and stay away from there then," I said, hoping to break off from the subject. "All the same though, I'd like to wait awhile before I make my choice. Is there a problem with that?"  
  
"Oh, of course not! Here, take this brochure, it explains all the pets in great detail so you know everything about every one of them." The blonde seemed to have recovered completely as she handed me a thick little booklet with the words "Picking your pet: Finding the perfect pal" printed on the front. A genuine-seeming smile was plastered on her face, and her jade eyes seemed to have fully regained their initial sparkle. "Well, I guess now, we start you off! You'll be placed in a one-room Neohome to start; later on you can build it up if you'd like. It'll have basic needs: plumbing, electricity, and water all paid for, and they will continue to be, but any embellishments whatsoever from the basic living unit provided will come out of your own pocket. And here's 200 Neopoints to start you off." A small but slightly heavy burlap-y bag was dropped into my hands. Upon opening it, I found several coins, some different colors and all marked as having different values. "Don't lose those," came the warning, to which I nodded.  
  
"Now, if you'll just step through the door you came in, everything will be put in order. You'll find a newbie's guide, explaining everything to starting Neopians such as yourself, and with luck, you'll fit right in." I offered my thanks, and was about to open the door when she handed me a slip of paper, saying, "And if you have any questions, feel free to call Sarah the Zafara, smartest pet there is on this side of Neopia. Her number's on that paper, she should be able to help you out."  
  
"Well, thanks a ton, I guess I'd better go then." I waved goodbye, then passed through the door, only to find myself in a small, one-roomed building. _The start of a new life in Neopia,_ I thought, grinning broadly.  
  
[A/N] Whoa! That's uber-long in comparison to some other stuff I've written...I just hope the streak lasts! Anyway, tell me what you think of this! I'd say more about what is to come, but somehow, I've temporarily forgotten the entire plotline! It must be those ebil plotbunnies, always scheming against me... So ebil!!!!! They are the source of all my problems, and if I stop them I will be grand high ruler of the earth and—err, did I just say all that? Uhh, please disregard the last thing I said completely! O.o 


	2. The Pound and the Pets

[Author's note: Okay, okay. So I'm updating one of newest stories, even though I have several that are long overdue for updates. So sue me. I can't help it. And anyway, they're my stories, so I can update when I want to, right? Uh guys? Why are you holding those pitchforks? That gleam in your eyes, it's not... menacing, is it? Why are you coming closer? Guys? Hey guys, this isn't fun—HELP!!]

.:. Disclaimer: yeah, yeah. You've heard it already. What's your point? I feel like keeping my hide un-sued, so here you go. I don't friggin own Neopets! Honestly, why would anyone think I did? I own nothing except this fanfic and my characters. So quit buggin' me, okay? .:.

"Hmm, this is nice," I muttered, scanning the room. It had little furniture, just a lumpy bed, a nightstand, and a table. The furniture, while in usable condition was none too new, and not the slightest bit fancy. It was a decent-sized room, more than large enough for one person. _Of course, I'll be sharing it with a pet soon,_ I thought with a smile. I glanced back at the nightstand, seeing a miniature magazine. On it the words "Newbie's Guide" were printed. "I'll take a look at that later," I said to myself, and flopped onto the old bed to review the pet brochure I had been given.

Let's see here... We've got Acaras, but they aren't that attractive. Supposed to be easy to manage, but can get very stubborn, and also have a tendency to become egotistical. Not for me." I flipped to the next page. "Aishas. Cute, but... too feminine. I can't go with a pet too girly." I briefly glanced at the next couple of Neopets, before quickly dispelling the idea of getting any of them. A photograph of a grinning blue Draik, winking at the camera suddenly caught my eye. "Very playful, and incredibly loyal. Mischievous and well balanced in the Battledome. Usually amiable, few exceptions. Oh, what an ideal pet." I sighed, trying not to think too much about how much I wanted one. There was no point in hoping against hopes to get one when they were so supposedly difficult to obtain.

I rolled onto my back, my thoughts drifting about wildly. Then I remembered the little pound speech I had been given earlier that day. Why could she possibly hate the pound so much? Surely it wasn't all as bad as she had made it out to be. _Only one way to find out,_ I thought, jolting up. I snatched up the Newbie's Guide, flipping through until I came upon a map of Neopia. Luckily for me, the distance between my Neohome and the pound wasn't more than the equivalent of a few blocks. I ran all the way there, and was shocked to see people milling in and out in huge numbers. I dashed over to the entrance, and made my way through the crowd, squeezing and pushing until I was inside.

When I entered, I found my self in a small, crowded room. There was a small desk shared by two Neopets, a pink Uni wish a weary smile, and an old, wizened Techo who growled at everyone who approached him. I tentatively stepped up to the Techo. "Are you here to abandon?" He snapped at me, glaring.

"N-no," I stammered. "I'm here to look for a pet to adopt."

"Then you're at the wrong desk." He shot me a death look as he gestured to two signs above his and the Uni's heads. Over the Techo's head, it read "Abandon", and over the Uni, the sign read "Adopt".

What I saw when I went in made my heart just about stop. The place was huge, like a warehouse. Aisles upon aisles were lined with differently sized cages, full of screeching and wailing Neopets. I regained my composure and stepped up to the first aisle to examine the pets inside.

"Help meeee!" squealed a battered, bone-skinny reptillian, which I recognized from the brochure as a Grarrl. "I've been in here for a yeeear! Take me home, and let me be freeee!" He reached a bony claw through the bars of his cage and clutched at my shirt, trying to prevent my escape. Frightened, I pulled away from his grasp and looked on to the other pets. They all moaned and reached out at me, insisting that they had been there the longest.

"Shut up, you're a lot of damn fools if you honestly think she'll take any of you home," A voice said from a shadowy cage. I struggled to discern the type of pet within, but he remained carefully concealed by the darkness. "She came here, looking for some sad little baby that she could cuddle and take home to be a spoiled little princess. You're what humans like to call 'lost souls'. Not a chance any of you'll go home today, not with this little innocent."

"Who are you?" I asked the hidden pet, peering at his dim outline. He stepped out of the shadows, revealing himself to be a little white bat, with wings the color of blood—he was a Korbat. His eyes were a deep midnight blue, almost black and filled with anger. A spiked collar hung loosely around his neck, as though whoever had put it on him hadn't realized how obviously oversized it was. Hanging out of his mouth, two sharp, slightly yellowed fangs curled over his lip in a slight scowl. Wicked-looking claws tipped his wings and feet, completing the look.

"I'm Spadeblade32, but if you value your life, you'll call me Spade. I have been here longer than any of these fools, and I know you. I know all of you. All the same, you only want those pathetic little wimps, who bawl their eyes out after the first hour. Looking for a pet that's dainty, shy, and _cute_." He spat the last word out like a horrible taste in his mouth, one that he wanted to get rid of as soon as possible.

"You're wrong," I said quietly. "I'm here to help a truly needy pet. Someone who deserves this less than anyone else." He faltered a moment before returning to his glare. "And I think I've just found him."

"What? Who?" His head whipped around, searching for the pet I was speaking of. I almost laughed.

"It's you," whispered a neighboring Skeith. "You're finally going to get a home." The others murmured amongst themselves. Apparently this was something big.

"What? I'm not going with you! I know all too well what will happen. You'll tire of me and dump me back in here, just like they all have. Maybe you'll even rob me of my form, turning me into whatever is your whim. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened." Spade hissed and flattened himself against the wall.

"Spade, I can see how much you need to get away from here. No amount of protests will get me to change my mind. And for all it's worth, I give my solemn promise not to abandon you, ever." Spade rolled his eyes. "Please? Either way, you're coming, so you can just accept that, or not." I help out my hand to the edge of his cage. For a long moment, he just stared, thinking intently. Finally, shakily, he extended his furry paw.

"Fine," was the single word that he whispered.

After dealing with the hassle of convincing Dr. Death, that ogre of a Techo I had encountered earlier, that yes, I did want Spade, I took Spade home, letting him perch on my shoulder. He remained silent the entire trip until we reached the front door. "Why?" he asked, his strong voice faltering.

"Because I could tell that you needed it. Look what it had done to you! You were worn down to a cynical husk, left with only the tiniest trace of your true self. I couldn't let you be finished. I couldn't let you suffer that."

"You should have. It would have been easier," came the quiet reply. Them without warning, he dropped into my arms, unconscious.

When Spade awoke, the different Korbat, the one with some trace of mental use beyond insults and snapping was gone. Instead, he reverted to his growling, obnoxious, and highly irritating form, with more than a trace of childishness. Having a conversation with him was like speaking with a grumpy, irrational nine-year-old. "I will _not_ eat one of those rancid, disgustingly eggy, smelly little ommelettes!"

"Come on Spade, do you have to be such a baby?"

"I'M NOT A BABY!!" he roared so loudly that the house shook.

"Well, we're going to have to have ommelettes for breakfast until we can afford other food. In case you didn't notice, it's the only free food around here!" I had just about had it with his attitude.

"Not true. There are jellies too."

"Jellies?"

Yeah, in Jelly World. Which, by the way, doesn't exist." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Mind clueing me in on exactly what the heck you're talking about?" I asked, frustrated.

I can take you to Jelly World. It supposedly doesn't exist, but we all know better. There's a giant jelly there that anyone can take a free piece of. And it tastes much better than those rancid egg bits they pass off as ommelettes over in Tyrannia." He hooked his feet around my arm and attempted to pull me out the door. Instead of succumbing, I twirled around and grabbed him in my arms.

"Not the tough guy, huh?"

He glared at me before swatting me with his tail. "If I was still a Draik, I'd have no problem with this."

This caught my attention. He had been a Draik? But when? And why wasn't he anymore? Questions surged through my mind rapidly, so many that I began to get a little dizzy. I focused on calming myself down before asking him anything. "So you were a Draik?" I finally asked. _Duh, that's what he just said_, the rational part of my mind said. But the rest of my brain was having just a little trouble comprehending this newly revealed fact.

"Yeah, I was created as a blue one, way back in the day when we were still available for creation." He paused to laugh. "That didn't last long though. We were scooped up by everyone who could get a hold of one of us. My first owner, Dan was content with using me for social status. He enjoyed bragging about the fact that he has such a rare pet. Got others pretty peeved though. One day, a particularly jealous 'friend' broke in and stole everything. Finding himself flat out broke and too stupid to earn and neopoints from games, he left me in the pound. "

"After Dan left me, I was quickly snatched up by a pet collector. This guy had other rare pets—a red Cybunny, a purple Kiko and a yellow Jetsam. I was a great addition to his group. Unfortunately, he was also only interested in status. He hoarded his neopoints, and rather than buying any food at all, he forced us to eat ommelettes—every day. That's why I hate 'em so much, you know. Just got sick of the bloody things. Well, one day he found out that someone was going to place a robot Draik in the pound. Of course, being only a basic color, I was once again in that awful prison, left to fend for myself."

"The next few owners I had we complete idiots, and didn't even keep me for more than a few days each. It was a game of musical owners. I was passed around and around so many times that I lost count of how many owners I'd had. Too many, I'll say that."

"Well, after those morons came Charlotte. I'll never forget Charlotte. Biggest idiot I'd ever seen. She thought Draiks were 'too mean-looking', so she got a morphing potion—and turned me into the wreck that you see now. Then she kept me for a while, dressing me up like a flipping doll, until I almost preferred the pound. Well, it turned out not to matter. She got an Acara, and deeming it cuter, sent me off to the pound again. From then on, I had a few brief owners, but they didn't like me, so it was back to the pound, again. Then, I didn't have any owners at all—until you came."

I looked down and realized that tears were seeping out of my eyes. "I never realized that such a wonderful-seeming place like Neopia could be hiding such... malice," I murmured, more to myself than Spade.

"Yeah, well, they do a great job covering up," was his eye-rolling reply.

"Spade?" I asked tentatively.

"What?"

"Why do you act so cynical? Every word that comes out of your mouth is negative. I don't think I've heard you say something nice yet." I braced myself in case he decided to explode, as I suspected he might.

"...I—I don't..." The question seemed to have caught him off guard. He stammered for a moment before confessing his reasons. "I guess... it's because that's what it's done to me. Life, that is. You wouldn't come out of what I've been through without getting a bit callous, I'm sure." He turned his head away and added, "Of course, now you're going to get all high and mighty, telling me that I'm completely wrong. Of course, no matter what _you_ go through, you'll stay _perfect_."

I recoiled as though I had been struck. "Spade! How could you say that? I know I'd change too if that happened to me—I can't think of a single person who wouldn't! You know, when you say sarcastic remarks like that, it really hurts. I'm just trying to be your friend, help you out, and here you are, repaying me with biting, callous words."

Spade looked taken aback. "I—I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just... I'm just used to saying things like that. I didn't mean to... hurt you."

"It's okay," I replied after taking a deep breath. "But I think I'm going to have to help you learn to control your habits, and start being more civil. If you keep on saying the sort of things that you do, you're eventually going to really wound someone." He silently nodded, accepting my offer. "Then we're all okay?" I asked, hoping to smooth things over. I wanted to avoid hard feelings between us as much as possible.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Then let's go to that Jelly World you mentioned," I urged, a grin spreading over my face. Hand in paw, we walked out the door, a smile on each of our faces.

[Author's Note: So, have you figured out what's going on yet? Yeah, it's definitely weird. Just wait until you see traces of an actual plot develop. That's when it _really_ gets strange. Trust me, it's definitely... original. Though, at this point, I'm not sure if that's good or bad. That'll be up to you to decide, when the situation arises.]


	3. The Pound and the Pets: Spade's Share

Author's Note: Because of reasons that will later be revealed to you, the reader, I am going to give you chapter two, The Pound and the Pets, from Spade's point of view. It'll give you some insight as to what kind of pet he is, and hopefully get you riled up for the next bit of plot. Trust me, this is really a lot more interesting than it sounds, so don't disregard it. Please.

.:. Disclaimer: Okay, I know you really don't think this is all that necessary, but just humor me, okay? I don't own Neopets. I don't own Neopia. I don't own any species names. All I own are my characters, which are one hundred percent original, and the plotline, which the previous also applies to. That being said, let's move on with the story, okay? .:.

The Pound and the Pets: Spade's Share

Spade's POV

"Mruuunh," I grunted as I was awoken by the clanging of wood against metal. I looked up to see Dr. Death jingling a long walking stick against the bars of my cage. "Cut it out, will 'ya? I'm awake dammit."

"You had better be. It's already five in the morning, you lazy little nothing. Owners may be coming, so you had better be awake. Otherwise, you're not getting any food for the rest of the day."

"You call the slop you shovel at us food?" I muttered.

"If you don't like it, you can always do without." The once-Techo grinned a nasty sort of grin before moving on to growl at the Skeith in the next cage over, named sonnyfatboy134, who was snoring peacefully. Well, he wasn't for long, anyway. When he deemed his job of riling the red beast up satisfactory, he continued on, snapping at the next blissfully resting pet.

"So, think you're gonna get out t'day?" Sonny asked me, a lopsided grin on his face.

"God help me if I do," I snapped back.

"Oh, C'mon! Do you have to be so pessimistic all o' the time?" Sonny whined, focusing him deep black eyes intently on my own cobalt ones. Our eyes remained locked for an indefinite period of time, before Sonny finally blinked a few times and looked down at the cold, dusty concrete floor.

"Don't bother me," I replied shortly.

"Answer me!" the Skeith pressed, his eyes on me again. I felt suppressed anger rising up at his provocations.

"What part of 'no' is it that you don't understand, Sonny? I _want_ to be left alone, and I _don't_ want to have to deal with this same crap from you every day. I know it must be hard for you, but I'm going to ask you a civilly as I possible can, given the circumstances, and I want you to give me the right answer, or I swear I'll squeeze through these bars and strangle you. For once in your life, will you just shut up?!?!" I glowered darkly as Sonny, taken aback, inched away from the bars separating our cages. "Good," I muttered, shooting an evil glare at anyone who had been watching the little scene. Every one of them quickly snapped his or her head back, pretending that they hadn't noticed a thing. "Finally, a little peace in this place," I mumbled, slinking into the shadows so I wouldn't be bothered.

Unfortunately, this oh so newly gained peace didn't last long. "I wanna get ridda this guy!" a highly nasal male voice carried through the door of the pound offices, which hung forever slightly ajar. It had been kicked off it's hinges by a psychotic pet that didn't want to be disowned a year ago, and no one had bothered to set it right since. I glanced over in the direction of the offices, catching a glimpse of a squirming blue figure.

"Don't leave me!" echoed out a shriek immediately in reply. There was a scuffling commotion, and a moment later, Dr. Death skidded in, a struggling blue Kacheek in tow. "I don't wanna die!" the wretched creature wailed, using every ounce of strength it it's frail body to fight the growling doctor. However, the struggle was to no avail, as the crying Neopet was roughly tossed into a cage at the other end of the same stretching aisle that housed myself.

"Shut yer yap," Dr. Death yelled at the sobbing beast, then walked away, his dirty lab coat swishing sharply around his knobby yellow knees. I shook my head, thoroughly disgusted by the whole ordeal.

So the rest of the morning went on, with moronic jerks tossing their now-unwanted pets into the pound. So few hopeful adopters came into the pound, I was beginning to think Neopia had been completely taken over by the idiots abandoning their pets so fecklessly. And then, _she_ walked in.

From the moment I first saw her, I was wary. She was nervous, she was bright-eyed, she was wondrous. She pushed a lock of silky black hair back as she strode shakily through the doorway. Immediately, the all-so-familiar ruckus began, all the pets in the building wildly begging her to take them home. Disgusted, I shook my head and receded into my all-so-inviting shadows, darkly glaring at the girl. "Help meeee!" a skin-and-bones Grarrl shrieked at her, reaching out at her clothes. "I've been in here for a yeeear! Take me home, and let me be freeee!" Frightened, the girl moved back, then shakily continued along the aisle, staring at the pets.

"Shut up, you're a lot of damn fools if you honestly think she'll take any of you home," I murmured, watching the girl glance around to find the speaker. She attempted to look into my cage, but her feeble eyes were unable to penetrate the dark shadows. Smirking at the confused human, I continued, "She came here, looking for some sad little baby that she could cuddle and take home to be a spoiled little princess. You're what humans like to call 'lost souls'. Not a chance any of you'll go home today, not with this little innocent." She flinched slightly, but continued to stare steadily into my cage.

"Who are you?" she asked, peering into my cage even more than before. Finally, I decided to step forward, into the light. She let out the tiniest gasp upon seeing me._ Seein that I'm just a measly little Korbat,_ I thought grimly, glowering deeply at her.

"I'm Spadeblade32, but if you value your life, you'll call me Spade. I have been here longer than any of these fools, and I know you. I know all of you. All the same, you only want those pathetic little wimps, who bawl their eyes out after the first hour. Looking for a pet that's dainty, shy, and cute." I spat out the sentence like hot lead, daring her to speak. Most likely, she'd shamefully admit I was right, become terrified, and never return. Worse yet, she would come back in a week, ignore me completely, and home in on a sobbing baby of an Acara, or some pathetic little Uni. To my surprise however, she kept her eyes locked onto mine, and spoke determinedly, in a voice barely above a whisper. Had I been human, I would have been straining to hear.

"You're wrong," she murmured softly. "I'm here to help a truly needy pet. Someone who deserves this less than anyone else." I drew back, startled by her response, but quickly assumed my glare again. Then she added,"And I think I've just found him."

"What? Who?" I glanced around, trying to determine which sniveling weasel she had deemed pathetic enough to come home with her. Oddly, an amused gleam seemed to enter her eyes for a brief moment, but I didn't have time to think about it, as the Blue Skeith who was housed beside me whispered in a daze,

"It's you. You're finally going to get a home." This got the others going. A ripple of murmurs and whispers found their way through the warehouse-like room. _Don't work yourselves up,_ I thought privately. _I'm not going without a fight._

"What? I'm not going with you! I know all too well what will happen. You'll tire of me and dump me back in here, just like they all have. Maybe you'll even rob me of my form, turning me into whatever is your whim. It wouldn't be the first time it's happened," I hissed at her, backing up against the wall threateningly (or at least as threatening as a Korbat can look).

"Spade, I can see how much you need to get away from here. No amount of protests will get me to change my mind. And for all it's worth, I give my solemn promise not to abandon you, ever." I rolled my eyes. What good was a human's promise? Hell, what good was anyone's promise? "Please? Either way, you're coming, so you can just accept that, or not." I stood there, silently considering my options. I could deny it, she would continue pleading, and eventually leave. Then, the routine would continue, same as it always had, and always would. Or, I could accept her offer... if nothing else, it would provide some variety. It was obvious she didn't actually intend to keep me for more than a month, but it was at least a month without the nagging growl of Dr. Death in my ears at an ungodly hour of the morning.

"Fine," I whispered, looking away. Silence abounded in the pound.

After that, it was only a matter of this girl convincing Dr. Death that she really did want me to come with her (why did I doubt that?), and then we were on out the door. I stayed silent the entire trip to her house, contemplating the days events, until we reached the front door, and I had finally managed to come up with something to say. "Why?" I asked, all strength leaving my voice.

"Because I could tell that you needed it. Look what it had done to you! You were worn down to a cynical husk, left with only the tiniest trace of your true self. I couldn't let you be finished. I couldn't let you suffer that." I suddenly felt very exhausted, and summoned up the last vestiges of my quickly leaving strength to reply.

"You should have. It would have been easier." That said, I dropped off to sleep immediately.

"I will not eat one of those rancid, disgustingly eggy, smelly little ommelettes!" I screeched, backing away from an alarmed Lara.

"Come on Spade, do you have to be such a baby?"

"I'M NOT A BABY!!" I roared, as though mightily insulted. Beneath my feet, I felt the house tremble. At this rate, Id be able to get her to get rid of me within the week. I just had to prove that she wasn't the wholesome "no pound for you!" person she claimed. Lara tapped her foot impatiently.

"Well, we're going to have to have ommelettes for breakfast until we can afford other food. In case you didn't notice, it's the only free food around here!" She looked a but miffed. I sighed and proceeded to correct her.

"Not true. There are jellies too."

"Jellies?"

Yeah, in Jelly World. Which, by the way, doesn't exist." I grinned oh-so-charmingly up at her, waiting for her to explode. I was almost certain that she would dump me back in the pound before the end of the day, and prove my initial accusations right.

"Mind clueing me in on exactly what the heck you're talking about?" she asked, doing an unfortunately beautiful job of keeping her rage in check. I sighed, realizing that my ploy wouldn't work, at least not today.

"I can take you to Jelly World," I explained. "It supposedly doesn't exist, but we all know better. There's a giant jelly there that anyone can take a free piece of. And it tastes much better than those rancid egg bits they pass off as ommelettes over in Tyrannia." I hooked my feet around her arm and attempted to pull her out the door so we could hurry up and get food. Unfortunately, she took advantage of her size, and with a graceful twirl, she had me gripped tightly in her arms. I looked up at her, annoyed.

"Not the tough guy, huh?" she grinned down at me, trying to annoy me. It worked. I glared at her and swatted at her with my tail.

"If I was still a Draik, I'd have no problem with this," I growled, squirming out of her arms. This seemed to catch her attention.

"So you were a Draik?" she stared vaguely down at me, as if trying to comprehend the fact. I briefly considered making a smart remark, but decided it wasn't necessary.

"Yeah, I was created as a blue one, way back in the day when we were still available for creation." I took a moment to laugh. Oh how long ago that seemed. "That didn't last long though. We were scooped up by everyone who could get a hold of one of us. My first owner, Dan was content with using me for social status. He enjoyed bragging about the fact that he has such a rare pet. Got others pretty peeved though. One day, a particularly jealous 'friend' broke in and stole everything. Finding himself flat out broke and too stupid to earn and neopoints from games, he left me in the pound. "I stared remorsefully down at the floor, reflecting bitterly upon my dark past.

"After Dan left me, I was quickly snatched up by a pet collector. This guy had other rare pets—a red Cybunny, a purple Kiko and a yellow Jetsam. I was a great addition to his group. Unfortunately, he was also only interested in status. He hoarded his neopoints, and rather than buying any food at all, he forced us to eat ommelettes—every day. That's why I hate 'em so much, you know. Just got sick of the bloody things. Well, one day he found out that someone was going to place a robot Draik in the pound. Of course, being only a basic color, I was once again in that awful prison, left to fend for myself." I became lost in my story, continuing as though in a trance. I found myself unable to leave out my thoughts sa I continued,

"The next few owners I had we complete idiots, and didn't even keep me for more than a few days each. It was a game of musical owners. I was passed around and around so many times that I lost count of how many owners I'd had. Too many, I'll say that." A grim smile came over my face as the 'warm fuzzy' memories came flooding back into my mind.

"Well, after those morons came Charlotte. I'll never forget Charlotte. Biggest idiot I'd ever seen. She thought Draiks were 'too mean-looking', so she got a morphing potion—and turned me into the wreck that you see now. Then she kept me for a while, dressing me up like a flipping doll, until I almost preferred the pound. Well, it turned out not to matter. She got an Acara, and deeming it cuter, sent me off to the pound again. From then on, I had a few brief owners, but they didn't like me, so it was back to the pound, again. Then, I didn't have any owners at all—until you came." As I finished my tale, I felt as though a great weight had been lifted off of me. I realized it felt good to let out some of my suppressed feelings and explain my feelings to someone. Glancing up, I realized that tears were leaking from the corners of Lara's eyes.

"I never realized that such a wonderful-seeming place like Neopia could be hiding such... malice," she said quietly, her voice shaky.

"Yeah, well, they do a great job covering up," I replied, rolling my times for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

"Spade?"

"What?"

"Why do you act so cynical? Every word that comes out of your mouth is negative. I don't think I've heard you say something nice yet." I frowned, taken aback.

"...I—I don't..." I struggled to come up with a reasonable answer, before deciding that I might as well tell her what felt like the truth. To be perfectly honest, I wasn't completely sure myself, but decided to give my best guess.. "I guess... it's because that's what it's done to me. Life, that is. You wouldn't come out of what I've been through without getting a bit callous, I'm sure." I turned my head away and added, "Of course, now you're going to get all high and mighty, telling me that I'm completely wrong. Of course, no matter what you go through, you'll stay perfect."

Lara flinched as though I had physically struck her, and I immediately regretted my words. "Spade! How could you say that? I know I'd change too if that happened to me—I can't think of a single person who wouldn't! You know, when you say sarcastic remarks like that, it really hurts. I'm just trying to be your friend, help you out, and here you are, repaying me with biting, callous words." I hung my head as shamefully as I could, trying to look sorrier than I was.

"I—I'm sorry," I whispered. "I just... I'm just used to saying things like that. I didn't mean to... hurt you." I held back a sigh of relief as she nodded, apparently accepting my answer as honest.

"It's okay," she replied after taking a deep breath. "But I think I'm going to have to help you learn to control your habits, and start being more civil. If you keep on saying the sort of things that you do, you're eventually going to really wound someone." I nodded wordlessly, deciding now was not the best time to show my rebelliousness. "Then we're all okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, looking amiable.

"Then let's go to that Jelly World you mentioned," Lara said, a grin forming on her face. For a brief moment, a thought ran through my head, that had something to do with her looking like a flower, but it was gone too quickly for me to dwell on it. Offering Lara my paw, we left the house together.

Author's Note: Now do you understand a little of Spade's feelings on the subject? Not as easily broken as you thought, is he? Let's just hope he doesn't ruin Lara's hopes, the same way his own were.


End file.
